“Guitar” to my guitar. For effects I used a
Fulltone Clyde Standard Wah, a tricked-out
Boss Turbo Overdrive, Vox Satchurator, EVH
Flanger, Voodoo Labvoodoo Micro Vibe, and a
Boss DD- 7 Digital Delay. Unused loop stations
must be daisy-chained with a short cable in
order to run the pedals. All my pedals worked
perfectly. They sounded clean, articulate and
super cool. I had to get use to the idea that all
of the effects have to be on (except the wah)
so that the pedalboard buttons could turn the
effects on and off, but I quickly got over it. The
top tier effects light up with bright green LEDs
and the bottom row light up with blue LEDs.
The buffer worked very well—though its main
function is to help drive long cable runs, it also
gave me a subtle boost with more clarity and
shimmer. Over all the board made my effects
sound better, very lush. The tuner location only
has one input, but it worked fine with my Boss
TU- 2 Chromatic Tuner. You just can’t use the
mute function. The buttons are logically laid out
at the bottom edge of the board and easy to
remember once you get the idea.
The Final Mojo
The Badaple Hydra allows you to lay your
pedals out in a neat and orderly fashion and
switch effects effortlessly. It’s a good-looking
unit, but it seems a little big if you’re use to
the less expensive, flat, single-tier pedalboards.
This feeling quickly passes as you experience
higher functionality and ease of use. Although
this pedalboard is set up to plug in and play
through the front end of a single amp, you can
have it modded to run pedals through your
effects loop or add an extra input to incorpo-
rate a second amp. Randy Mills of Badaple told
me that each pedalboard is custom-made to
fit the needs of the guitarist. There is no stock
version of the Hydra.
The downside to this board is that it doesn’t
power your pedals. You must add your own
power supply and attach it to the inside of
the board with Velcro. My concern is that
the power supply could shake loose during transit to a gig, potentially causing your
pedals to malfunction. While less expensive
pedalboards don’t have the space, the features, or the second tier, they usually have
their own built-in power supply. I was told
that future models will have extra Velcro and
foam to solidly secure your power supply, so
components being jostled around in transit
won’t be a problem. Other than that it’s a
good-looking pedalboard with great features
and superior construction.
you want to step up your
stompbox game.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you’re on a tight budget.
Rating...
3. 5
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Badaple Guitar
Street $599; $899 (with road case)
badapleguitar.com
www.premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2010 157
